As I'm sure you know us English have a bit of history with Argentina so let's get that stuff out of the way first.

1. Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England during Mexico '86 left a young Darren very distraught. My misery was compounded by that incredible - oooh that was hard to type - second goal. The fact remains that as great a player as some people think in my eyes he will always be an overweight, drug-addled cheat. Hand of God my arse!

2. The Falklands Islands. We stole these sheep-infested islands 8,000 miles from London fairly and squarely in 1833. On April 2nd 1982 Argentina invaded the islands 400 miles off its coast in a bid to reclaim them. Not bloody likely shouted Maggie Thatcher and after a 52-day battle which cost 650 Argentinian lives and 250 British the proper flag was once again flying over Goose Green

Regardless of the second point - and despite the first - everybody I meet raves about Argentina: the beautiful landscape, the vibrant cities, the steak and even the people. Together with Brummie Mike and Lesbian Jo I decided to hop over the border to the small lakeside tourist town of San Pedro de los Andes. Joining our posse along the was was American Ike (first question: "What do you guys think of those muslims?").

First on the list of things to do was to go for a steak. It seems that Argentines don't really get dinner going to 9pm at the earliest so when we rocked up to the restaurant at 8 we positively screamed gringo. But what a steak! A big juicy lump of tenderloin cooked to perfection for just less than a fiver. And the wine was cheap too....

The next day we worked off the effects of that wine by going on a three hour hike to the Mirador Bandurrias which offered spectacular views over Lago Lacar. With just one boat on the water and barely a cloud in the sky it was very peaceful and relaxed - shame my head was pounding. Think I'll wait until Bariloche before sampling the local grape juice again.